Car-roof.



H. A. OHRISTY;

OAR ROOF.

urnornox rum) 0016, 191a.

' Patented Sept 29, 1911 fre-iaea/ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. GHRISTY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR IO AMERICAN CAR COM- IPANY, OF (."IIHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS GAR-R OF.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept, 29, 1914;.

. Application filed October 6, 1913. Serial No. 793,578.

-w ay-cars, and more particularly concerns improvements in sheet-metal freight car roofs.

One object of the invention s the provlsion of a roof of this general character which shall be composed of a single thickness of metal, which shall have a frame of adequate strength for all purposes, which will be weather-proof, and theparts of whlch can be readily assembled and taken apart with facility and dispatch when required to effect epa s M Afurther feature of the invention is the prevention of leakage through a car-roof upon which snow or ice are likely to act as a giving rise to the formation of pools of water, which happens not infrequently on account of the slight pitch of car-roofs. To overcome the possibility of leakage through the roof under circumstances of this kind, each permeable joint is provided with a covcred drain discharging the water over the eaves, thereby eliminating the "'os sibility of leakage or seepage into the'inter or of the car. A

additional feature of my improved construction is the avoidance of the'einploymerit of rivets through-the roof-plates, the useof 'vvhich is objectionable because of the great dlfficulty in making the roof structure weather-tight about such fastening-means In order that those skilled in this art may have a full and complete understanding of this invention, I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the same in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and to which reference should be had in connection with the detailed description of the structure. 1

Inthe drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a car equippedwith a roof incorporating this invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section through the roof anda portion of the side-wall; Fig. 3 is anothervertical section, the plane of sec tion at a different than that showni i Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged side-elevation of the roof; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section onvline 5-.5 of Fig. 3, the parts being viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows; Fig. 6-is' a section'on line 66 of Fig. 2, and, Fig. 7 is a perspec-' tive view of one of the roof-plate clips.

In this improved construction the carlines 10 of cambered form and of any desirable shape in cross-section, (in the presentinstance of inverted channel shape as'shown in Fig extend from side wall to side wall of the car and at their opposite ends'iire fastened to the side-plates 11 by" means'oi suitable brackets 12 which are bolted through I the side-plate 11 and theadjacent sh'eathiii'g' 13, and which are also riveted at 14 t6 the web of the carline. Above the sheathin "I3 I employ a Z-bar cave-strip 15 'h'avin" its inner upstanding flange bearing against the side-plate 11, its horizontal webabove the top of the sheathing, and its outer downturned flange overlapping the top portion of;

such sheathing, all as is clearly illustrated Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing Each carline at each end terminates in a fiat plate portion or ear 16 dis 'ose'd j us't' outside of and overlapping the upstanding flange of the cave Z-ba'r 15. The roof-plates 17 desirably extendfrom carline to c 'rlin' and above the carlines the adjoining plates each have an upstanding fl'an e" '18, 8; brought directly in contact an held to gethe'r'by means of any'cle'sirable number of U-shaped clips 19, 19, fitted over and driven on such flanges, all as is well illustrated in Figs. 2 and 6. These roof-plates eiite'iid'iin' interruptedly froin side-wall to side-wallso as to avoid the necessity of "pi ovidin" weather-proof joints along the longitudinaj center of the car-roof. These 'clips'or clafrlp's 19 perform '7 an additional function of strengthening the roof longitudinally there of, it being understood that in a construction of this kind I ordinarily omit the ridge p'ol e and all purlins, the entire weight of the roof being borne by the carlines proper.

' By fastening together-these abutting upstanding flanges of the roof-plates 'by the clips 19, any tendencyfmc the endwalls'of the car to become bulged or displaced is re sisted by the roof-covering; that is, the metal roof-sheets and their fastening-means; At their outer ends these roof-plates 17, as well as the outstanding flanges 18 are bent down over the 'earslo -of the-carline and' the in ner upstanding-flange of the cave-strip 15 so 7 that owing to: the pitch of the roof the rain is readily discharged by these" roof-plates having its. ends 22 downturned over the depend ng. edge-portion of the roof-plates; that is to say, the cap-strips follow and conform to the downwardly-bent joints between adjaeentroof-plates. Each cap-,stri at the extreme end of its bent portion is attened .to provide an ear or attachment portion 23, whichgby means of the bolts 24, 24, is fastenedagainst the outer face of the depending flange 0f the Z-bar cave-strip 15, such bolts passing through alined apertures in the various parts and holding the brackets 12 fixedly in position, as is clearly shown in the various figures of the drawing. It should be'note'd that as is illustrated more in detail in Figs. 5 and 6, these cap-strips are considerably wider than the roof-plate joints which they cover and render weather-proof, that is to say, spaces are provided between the inner faces of the side-walls of the capstrip and the adjacent faces of the flanges 18 and clamps 19. The purpose of leaving these spaces. or cavities is to permit the drainage therein of any water which may enter beneath the flanges 21, that is, between such flanges and the roof-plates,in this man- .ner preventing the possibility of any such water acquiring access to the interior of the car between the contacting flanges 18, 18 of the roof-plates. In order that any such 7 water may be readily discharged at the sides of the car over the eave-stri s or bars 15, the the cap-strips are provide with apertures 25 ,establish1ng communication between the passagesor spaces referred to and the exterior of thecar-bod side-wall. It should be clear, therefore, t at if the drainage of the rain or melting snow or ice from the upper portion'of the car-roof is more or less "prevente d by the presence of snow or ice on the lower or outer portions of the roof, and if any of-such water enters beneath the capstrips, the latter afi'ord ready passages to the sides of the car for the quick discharge of 1 such water, eliminating the possibility of [the same entering the car-body through the roof-sheet joints. It should beobserved'that inthis improved construction there are no rivets through anypojrtion 'of' the roof towhich water has access .and that conse- .quently, there is no' danger of leakage about strips and their removal from normal any such rivets. This plan of permitting drainage within the cap-strips and not employingthe carlines as troughs is, I believe, broadly new in this art. If for any reason any ofitiiese roof-plates become damaged or in ured, requiring replacement, this can be readily accomplished by taking off the required number of cap-strips and merely lifting the roof-plates out of place, and substituting for them unin'ured ones or repairing the damaged ones. ince the cap-strips are the only means for holding the roof-plates in position the mere un-bolting of such caption permits the subsequent lifting o the roof-plates out of place in a quick and easy manner, and their replacement is also expe ditiously accomplished.

ile the construction herein shown and described is the referred embodiment of the invention at t epresent time, it will be understood by those skilled in this art that various minor mechanical changes may be made in such structure without departing from the heart and essence of'the invention and without the sacrifice of any of its substantial benefits and advantages. For example; although I have shown the flanges 18 of the roof-plates continuous over the bend at the sides of the car, in some instances it may be preferable to out such flanges at the bend and insert fillers in the spaces thus provided, securing such fillers in position in any preferred and-desirable manner. Such flanges, however, would in effect be con: tinuous, as is desirable in a construction of this kind to assure proper drainage and the avoidance of leakage.

I claim:

1. In a car-roof construction, the .com bination of car-body side-walls, carlines extending from side-wall to side-wall, sheetmetal roof-plates resting on said carlines and having upstanding marginal flanges along their adjacent edges, the ends of said plates and flanges bein bent down over said side-walls to provide e cient drainage over the walls, means fastening said flanges together, and cap-strips fitted over said roofplate flanges, the side-walls of said ca strips being spaced away from the upstan ing flanges and flange fastening means cov-- ered thereby to provide drainage channels within the cap-strips and to permit limited relative movement of the rooflates and cap-strips, substantially as descri ed;

2. In a car-roof construction, the combination ofcar-body side-walls, carlines explates and flanges being bent down over said side-walls to provide eificient drainage over the. walls, means fastening saidflanges togather, and cap-strips of inverted channel shape in cross section fitted over said roofplate flanges, the side-walls of said capstrips being spaced away from the upstanding flanges and flange fastening means covered thereby to provide drainage channels within the cap-strips and to permit limited relative movement of the roof-plates and cap-strips, said cap-strips having apertured ends down-turned over said side-walls, substantially as described.

3. In a car-roof construction the combination of car-body side-walls, metal eave bars disposed long1tudinally of the car-body at the to s of said side-walls, cal-lines extending rom side-wall to side-wall, sheetmetal rooflates on said carlines and having upstan ing marginal flanges along their ad acent edges; the ends of said plates and flanges being bent down over said eave bars to provide eflicient drainage over the sidewalls, U-shaped clips fitted over the abutting roof-plate flanges to fasten them together, and cap-strips of inverted channel shape in cross-section fitted over said roofplate flanges, the side-walls of said capstrips being spaced away from the upstanding roof-plate flan es and their fastening clips covered there y to provide drainage channels within the cap-strips, said capstrips having apertured ends down-turned over the car-body side-walls, substantially as described.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, in the presence of the two witnesses subscribed below.

HENRY A. CHRIST Y.

Witnesses:

WALTER M. FULLER, Awmz A. BARNES.

Copies 01 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

\ Washington, D. 0." 

